Pesticidal ketone-malonate adducts



. represented by the following equation:

clude dimethyl, diethyl, dipropyl,

United States Patent Cfilice 3,341,406 Patented Sept. 12, 1967 3,341,406 PESTICIDAL KETONE-MALONATE ADDUCTS Everett E. Gilbert, Morris Township, Morris County, and Pasquale Lombardo, East Hanover Township, Morris County, N.J., assignors to Allied Chemical Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York No Drawing. Original application Jan. 30, 1963, Ser. No. 255,097, now Patent No. 3,278,579, dated Oct. 11, 1966. Divided and this application May 24, 1966, Ser. No.

6 Claims. (Cl. 167-30) sented by the following cage structural formula:

I This ketone may be prepared in known manner by hydrolyzing the reaction product of hexachlorocyclopentadiene and sulfur trioxide.

An object of the present invention is to provide new ketone-malonate adducts exhibiting high pesticidal activity.

Another object of the invention is to provide new pesticidal compositions containing the ketone-malonate adducts as active ingredients.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a method of combatting pests, especially insects, comprising contacting the pests with pesticidal compositions containing the ketone-malonate adducts as active ingredients.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a simple and economical method for preparing the ketonemalonate adducts.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description.

The ketone-malonate adducts contemplated by this invention comprise those obtained by reacting the ketone with a malonate ester of the group consisting of dialkyl malonates and diaryl malonates. The reaction may be In the equation, R is an alkyl group, preferably an alkyl group containing 1 to 12 carbon atoms, or an aryl group,

be used to react with the ketone. Typical malonates indi(n-butyl), di(nhexyl), di(n-dodecyl), diphenyl and dinaphthyl malonates.

The ketone-malonate adducts may be prepared in simple and economical manner by reacting the ketone with the desired malonate, in mol ratio of about 0.5 to 2 mols of ketone per mol of malonate, at temperature ranging from room temperature to about 250 C.

If the ketone is available in hydrate form, it can be dehydrated before reaction by heating it in an oven at temperature of about to 150 C. or by refluxing it with an aromatic solvent such as xylene to remove the water. The water can also be removed during reaction, as described below.

Although the reactants may be employed in mol ratio of about 0.5 to 2 mols of ketone per mol of malonate, it is prefered to use approximately equimolar proportions of the reactants.

The reaction is carried out at room temperature to about 250 C., usually at temperature of about 100 to 200 C. The reaction temperature is preferably the reflux temperature of the reaction mixture.

If desired, the reaction may be carried out in the presence of an organic solvent. The solvent must be inert to the reactants and the desired ketone-malonate adduct. Among the suitable solvents are aliphatic or aromatic hydrocarbons such as xylene, toluene, benzene, petroleum ether, methylene chloride, etc. The solvent serves to keep the ketone-malonate adduct in solution. Moreover, if the ketone is employed in hydrate form, the solvent enables dehydration of the ketone during the reaction.

Conventional acid or basic catalysts may be employed to speed up the reaction. It is, however, a feature of this invention that the reaction proceeds readily in the absence of a catalyst.

The ketone-malonate adducts may be recovered from the reaction mixture by procedures known in the art, as by precipitation with a non-solvent, e. g., hexane, followed by filtration and drying. The adducts may be purified, for example, by recrystallization from hexane.

The following examples are typical of preparation of the ketone-malonate adducts of this invention. In the examples, parts are by weight.

Example 1 56 parts of ketone hydrate (4 mols water) Were refluxed with 215 parts of xylene to etfect dehydration of the hydrate by azeotropic distillation. 16 parts of diethyl malonate were added, and the mixture Was refluxed overnight. The mixture was then distilled in vacuo to remove solvent, thereby leaving an oil as residue. The oil Was triturated with 66 parts of hexane to produce a solid which was filtered off and washed with hexane. 32 parts of ketone-diethyl malonate adduct (50% yield) were obtained.

The product had a melting point of 106-110 C. The infrared spectrum of the product exhibited hydroxyl absorption at 2.92 microns and carbonyl absorption at 5.78, 5.85 microns.

Example 2 56 parts of ketone hydrate (4 mols Water) were refluxed with 210 parts of xylene to elfect dehydration of the hydrate by azeotropic distillation. 13 parts of dimethyl malonate were added to the xylene solution, and the mixture was refluxed at C. for 17 hours. The mixture was then cooled, filtered and distilled in vacuo to remove solvent. A solid resulted whichwas triturated with hexane, filtered off, Washed with hexane and dried .to yield 49 parts (78% yield) of ketone-dimethyl malonate adduct.

A portion of the product (10 grams) was purified by dissolving it in hot hexane-methylene chloride mixture, treating the solution With decolorizing charcoal, filtering, evfiiporating to ml. and allowing the residue to crysta ize.

lizations from benzene-hexane mixtures,

3 The purified product had a melting point of 153154 C. Chlorine analysis of the purified product gave 56.6% (56.9% theory). The infrared spectrum of the product showed hydroxyl absorption at 2.88 microns, carbonhydrogen absorption at 3.26, 3.33 microns, carbonyl absorption at 5.63, 5.74 microns and carbn-hydrogen absorption at 6.94, 7.07 microns.

Example 3 16 parts of ketone hydrate (4 mols water) were refluxed with 181 parts of xylene to effect dehydration of the hydrate by azeotropic distillation. 25.6 parts of diphenyl malonate were added to the solution, and the mixture was refluxed overnight. After filtering, the mixture was stripped of solvent by distillation in vacuo to produce a solid. The solid was dissolved in methylene chloridehexane mixture. Most of the methylene chloride was distilled oil, and the precipitated solid was then removed by filtration. 17 parts (76% yield) of ketone-diphenyl malonate adduct were obtained.

A portion of the product (5 grams) was purified by dissolving it in hot hexane-methylene chloride mixture, treating the solution with decolorizing charcoal, filtering, evaporating to a volume of about 100 ml. and allowing the residue to crystallize (after seeding). After two recrystalthe product had a melting point of l64.5l65.5 C. The infrared spectrum of the product showed hydroxyl absorption at 2.87 microns, carbon-hydrogen absorption at 3.25 microns, carbonyl absorption at 5.60, 5.69 microns and aromatic absorption at 6.27, 6.68, 6.75 microns.

Example 4 39 parts of ketone hydrate (4 mols water) were refluxed with 210 parts of xylene to effect dehydration of the hydrate by azeotropic distillation. 15 parts of di(n-'butyl) malonate were added to the solution, and the mixture was refluxed overnight. The mixture was then stripped in vacuo to yield a viscous oil. The oil was dissolved in hexane, and the solution was cooled in Dry Ice-acetone. Anoily solid precipitated and was allowed to warm to room temperature. The precipitate was then filtered and washed with hexane to produce 7 parts of solid having a melting point of 6771 C. A solid precipitated in the filtrate and was filtered oil and washed with hexane to produce 4 parts of solid having a melting point of 6870 C. The resulting filtrate was cooled in Dry Ice-acetone to precipitate 20 parts of solid having a melting point of 84-87 C. The infrared spectrum of the 3 crops showed them to be essentially identical ketone-di-(n-butyl)malonate adducts. They exhibited hydroxyl absorption at 2.92 microns and carbonyl absorption at 5.70, 5.78 microns.

Example 5 41.5 parts of ketone hydrate (4 mols water) were reacted with 20 parts of di(n-hexyl)malonate by refluxing The infrared spectrum of the product showed hydroxyl absorption at 2.90 microns and carbonyl absorption at 5.68, 5.78 microns.

Example 6 5 28 parts of ketone hydrate (4 mols water) and 22 parts of di(n-dodecyl)-malonate were reacted by refluxing overnight. Solvent was then removed by distillation in vacuo to yield 42 parts of a viscous dark oil comprising ketonedi(n-dodecyl)malonate adduct.

The infrared spectrum of the product showed hydroxyl absorption at 2.91 microns and carbonyl absorption at 5.68, 5.78 microns.

The ketone-malonate adducts of this invention may be applied to pests, especially insects, as is but are advantageously incorporated as ingredients in suitable liquid or solid carriers to provide pesticidal spray or dust compositions.

The liquid pesticidal compositions generally contain in proportions by Weight about 10 to 25% of the adduct as active ingredient, about 65 to 88% of an aromatic solvent and about 2 to 10% of a suitable wetting or emulsifying agent, such as diglycol oleate, p-isooctyl phenyl ether of polyethylene glycol, blends of alkyl aryl polyether alcohols with alkyl aryl sulfonates and blends of polyoxyethylene sorbitan esters of mixed fatty and resin acids with alkyl aryl sulfonates. The resulting concentrate solution is diluted or admixed with water to form an aqueous dispersion or emulsion suitable for spray application containing about 0.001 to 0.1% by weight of active ingredient.

Representative aromatic solvents which may be used in preparing the liquid pesticidal compositions include xylene, high aromatic solvents, methylated naphthalenes, heavy aromatic naphtha, etc.

The wettable powder compositions generally contain in proportions by weight about 25 to 75% of the active ingredient, about 20 to 73% of a finely divided solid carrier and about 2 to 5% of suitable wetting and dispersing agents. Typical wetting agents include polyether sulfonates, alkyl aryl sulfonates, etc. Typical dispersing agents include ligninsulfonates, naphthalene sulfonic acidformaldehyde condensates, etc.

The wettable powder compositions can readily be prepared by mixing or milling the active ingredient with the carrier and wetting agent to a typical particle size of from about 3 to 40 microns. The composition is admixed with water to form an aqueous dispersion suitable for spraying containing about 0.001 to 0.1% by weight of active ingredient.

Representative solid carriers which may be used in preparing the wettable powders include magnesium and aluminium silicates (talc, kaolin clays, attapulgite clays, etc.), carbonates (dolomite, chalk, etc.), materials containing silicic acid (diatomaceous earth), fullers earth, gypsum, sulfur, etc.

The dosage of the active ingredient depends on the particular organisms to be controlled, field conditions, etc., as known in the art. In any event, sufiicient quantity of the active ingredient is used to provide the desired toxicity.

Exemplary tests of the ketone-malonate adducts of the present invention are set forth below:

Active Ingredient Ketonediethyl malonate adduct Ketone-dimethyl malonate adduct..- Ketone-diphenyl malonate adduct. Ketone-di(n-butyl) malonate adduct- Ketone-di(n-hexyl) malonate adduct..

Ketone-di(n-dodecyl) malonate adduct Percent Kill Formulation Mexican Bean Southern Beetle Larvae Armyworms 3 pounds 25% wettable powder composition 1 per 100 gallons water 1 0 2 pounds adduct per 100 gallons acetone-water solution (1:1) 180 8 pounds 25% wettable powder composition 1 per 100 gallons water... 60 100 0 100 100 100 100 1 25.0% active ingredient, 73.5% Attaelay (attapulgite clay carrier), 0.75% ElvanoY' 51-05 (water-soluble synthetic polyvinyl alcohol dispersing agent), 0.75% "N acconol SW" (alkyl aryl sulfonate wetting agent).

The tests on toxicity to Mexican bean beetle larvae (Epilachna varivestis) were carried out by spraying horticultural (cranberry) bean plants with the indicated formu lation and allowing the plants to dry. The larvae were confined to the treated foliage by means of Wire cages. Record of kill was made 3 days after treatment.

The tests on southern armyworms (Prodenia eridania) were carried out by spraying horticultural (cranberry) bean plants with the indicated formulation and allowing the plants to dry. The armyworms were confined to the treated foliage by means of Wire cages. Mortality count was made three days after treatment.

The adducts also showed high etfectiveness (96-100% kill) in tests on houseflies (Musca domestica).

Since various changes and modifications may be made in this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, the invention is deemed to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A pesticidal composition comprising an adduct of decachlorooctahydro-1,3,4-metheno-2H cyclobuta (cd) pentalen-Z-one and a member of the group consisting of dialkyl and diaryl malonates, as the active ingredient, together with a carrier therefor.

2. A pesticidal composition comprising an adduct of decachlorooctahydro-1,3,4-metheno 2H cyclobuta (cd) pentalen-Z-one and dialkyl malonate in which the alkyl groups contain from 1 to 12 carbon atoms, as the active ingredient, together with a carrier therefor.

3. A pesticidal composition comprising an adduct of decachlorooctahydro-1,3,4-metheno 2H cyclobuta (cd) pentalen-Z one and diaryl malonate, as the active ingredient, together with a carrier therefor.

4. A process for combatting insects which comprises contacting the insects with a composition comprising an adduct of decachlorooctahydro-1,3,4-metheno-2H-cyclobuta (cd) pentalen-Z-one and a member of the group consisting of dialkyl and diaryl malonates, as the active ingredient.

5. A process for combattinginsects which comprises contacting the insects with a composition comprising an adduct of decachlorooctahydro-1,3,4-metheno-2H-cyclobuta (cd) pentalen-Z-one and dialkyl malonate in which the alkyl groups contain from 1 to 12 carbon atoms, as the active ingredient.

6. A process for combatting insects which comprises contacting the insects with a composition comprising an adduct of decachlorooctahydro-l,3,4-metheno-2H-cyclobuta (cd) pentalen-Z-one and diaryl malonate, as the active ingredient.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,516,404 7/1950 McBee et al 260503 2,616,825 11/1952 Gilbert et a1. 260586 XR 2,616,928 11/1952 Gilbert 61; a1 260586 2,702,305 2/1955 Gilbert et a1. 260648 2,761,805 9/1956 Huidobro et a1. 167-3O 2,773,799 12/1956 Fan 16730 2,864,680 12/1958 Degginger 71-2.3 2,882,320 4/1959 Cheney et a1. 260586 2,883,320 4/1959 Nickell l67--3O 2,898,375 8/1959 Gucx et a1. 260586 3,055,948 9/1962 Hoch et a1. 260--611 ALBERT T. MEYERS, Primary Examiner. G. A. MENTIS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A PESTICIDAL COMPOSITION COMPRISING AN ADDUCT OF DECACHLOROOCTAHYDRO-1,3,4-METHENO-2H - CYCLOBUTA (CD) PENTALEN-2-ONE AND A MEMBER OF THE GROUP CONSISTING OF DIALKYL AND DIARYL MALONATES, AS THE ACTIVE INGREDIENT, TOGETHER WITH A CARRIER THEREFOR. 